Christian Book Notes

Motz, Randy and Georgia Harris. The Walk: Reflections on Life and Faith from the Appalachian Trail. Germantown: The Qualtech Resource Group, Inc., 2010. 148 pp.$12.95.  Purchase for less at Amazon.

Introduction

Randy and Georgia have been married for over seventeen years. During that time, they have become avid hikers. They have written another book about their travels and hiking adventures along the Appalachian Trail entitled Solemates – Lessons on Life, Love & Marriage from the Appalachian Trail. This particular book, The Walk offers reflections on how their time on the trail closely mirrors the Christian life.

Summary

Divided into eight chapters, Randy and Georgia offer insight and instruction for relationships from their time together on the Appalachian Trail (AT). Pulling from Scripture, Native American proverbs, and other quotes throughout history, the reader is taught about the correct path, the importance of prayer and perseverance as well as family and community.

Each chapter draws on a deep spiritual lesson learned as “Windtalker” and “Mom” (their adopted trail names) learned as they traversed some 2,175 mile hike from Georgia to Maine over a six month period in 2006. It wasn’t until after they came off the trail that the idea of writing a book about what they learned during this time came to mind. Understanding that, the journal entries that they share interspersed throughout the book show the reader a “real time” life-lesson learned from that day’s adventures.

Each chapter concludes with a devotional thought and prayer making this resource one that can be used as a guide to a group study for couples.

Review

As I told the authors when they contacted me about possibly reviewing this book, I was more than skeptical about a book that seeks to teach about the Christian life using one’s hiking experience and various wisdom quotes from Native Americans. Turns out, I was flat out wrong. As I began to read the book through the lens of a skeptical reviewer, I found myself writing in the margins notes from my own pilgrimage as a Christian. Over and over, I found myself thinking about Bunyan’s characters in Pilgrim’s Progress.

The Native American quotes were evenly distributed and never so “mystical or spiritual” that Christ was lost. As a matter of fact, they added to the simplicity of the profound lessons learned by both Randy and Georgia. One can live vicariously through their experiences along the AT but will undoubtedly find that their lives closely parallel that of the travels of the trail.

Recommendation

As I stated above, I was extremely skeptical of The Walk when I first started reading it. A couple pages in, my skepticism waned. After reading the book, I highly recommend it to you. Randy and Georgia offered keen insight into dealing with the rat-race we call life. While not everyone will be able to hike the AT, we can all learn from their lessons—both spiritual and physical.

We are indebted to “Windtalker” and “Mom” for taking the time to write of their time on the Appalachian Trail for all of us to read.